Indian-origin fraudster arrested, says FBI Director Kash Patel

A most-wanted fraudster, accused of irregularities in U.S. government schemes, has been arrested in India, FBI Director Kash Patel said in Washington.

Manjit Singh Bedi, who allegedly defrauded the U.S. government of $6 lakh, had a bounty of $1.5 lakh on his head.

“Bedi was just arrested in India and was believed to have fled there sometime last year. The FBI is actively working to secure his return to the United States,” Mr. Patel said in a post on X.

According to the FBI, Mr. Bedi operated a small grocery store in Tacoma, Washington, and swiped customers’ government benefits cards to give them cash instead of food under the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Programme (SNAP).

“This is the 5th Most Wanted Fraudster captured since the creation of the new list three months ago – and yet another high-value target captured overseas. Subjects captured so far have been responsible for a combined over USD two billion in fraud and were on the run for almost 4,000 days collectively prior to arrest,” Mr. Patel said.

Mr. Bedi is charged with a series of offences including wire fraud, SNAP benefits fraud, and more, Mr. Patel said.

Instead of selling food to participants, Mr. Bedi allegedly swiped their Electronic Benefit Transfer cards and gave them cash, keeping half of the proceeds for himself, the FBI said on Thursday (September 3, 2026).

The FBI claimed that Mr. Bedi, a naturalised U.S. citizen, defrauded the U.S. government of at least $6 lakh between March 2024 and June 2025.

After being indicted for wire fraud and SNAP benefits fraud, Mr. Bedi was allowed to appear in court without being arrested.

He was ordered to surrender his passport and remain in Washington state.

However, Mr. Bedi soon drove across the border to Canada and then fled to India, the FBI said.

A federal arrest warrant was issued for Bedi on May 21 in a U.S. district court after he was charged with Violations of Conditions of Supervision.